Today is Sunday, February 10 and there are only 318 days until Christmas. It is never too early to start shopping, just make notes of where you put the stuff you buy. Today we remember the birthdays of Norbert van Flowers, Jimmy Durante and Sharon Stone. On this day in 1535 12 nude Anabaptists ran through Amsterdam streets, in 1863 PT Barnum staged the wedding of Tom Thumb and Mercy Lavinia Warren and in 1961 the Niagara Falls hydroelectric project began producing power. World-wide it is Boy Scout Day and in the US it is National Umbrella Day and National Cream Cheese Brownie Day.

Now, before you get all worked up, I will tell you who the Anabaptists are. Anabaptists believe that baptism is valid only when the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ and wants to be baptized. This believer’s baptism is opposed to the baptism of infants, who are not able to make a conscious decision to be baptized. Anabaptists are those who are in a traditional line with the early Anabaptists of the 16th century. 

Most Anabaptists were pacifists who opposed war and the use of coercive measures to maintain the social order; they also refused to swear oaths, including those to civil authorities. For their teachings regarding baptism and for the apparent danger they posed to the political order, they were ubiquitously persecuted. They are considered the spiritual ancestors of modern Baptists, Mennonites and Quakers. As a religious sect, the Anabaptists were seen to practice unusual rituals and follow an eccentric set of beliefs. One story, for instance, purports that an Anabaptist prophet, claiming to have visited heaven, persuaded his followers to run naked through the streets of Amsterdam. This is the best I can do to find out why they ran naked. I would have thought that they would have waited until it was warmer, but that’s just me. Just something to talk about at your next church coffee hour.

The other night, I mentioned to Barbara that her hands were cold. I pointed out that the backs of her hands were colder than the palms. This made me wonder. Why is it called the back of your hand? Since that is the part that is seen more often, I would think it would be called the front of your hand. But even if we accept that it is the back of your hand, why isn’t the other side called the front of your hand? And furthermore, why is it called the palm? I am not sure what it should be called, but calling it the palm is odd.

That led me to wonder about another odd thing. You know when you whack your elbow on a door jamb or something, everyone says you hit your funny bone. I always wondered why it was called the funny bone. There is nothing funny about it. In my case it could be called the profanity bone. I thought it had something to do with the fact that it was by the humerus bone (get it?). As it turns out, it is called the funny bone because of the funny feeling you get after you hit it. More interesting is the fact that it is actually the ulnar nerve (not a bone), but runs near the ulna bone. The elbow joint is in relation to that nerve, hence the weird feeling when you whack it. Had enough? Me, too.

Recently we have been having a lot of utility work done in this area. My question is, what is the story with the police cars having to be there? The company doing the work places traffic cones and puts out signs warning you that they are working, so what is the purpose of the police car. There is always a police car there, but the police officer never actually does anything. As an example, they were getting ready to place new utility poles along a stretch of road near us.

 The company had put out signs and placed cones to direct traffic. Because of the work, in some areas, the road was down to one lane.  Cars would come along, but no one knew who was supposed to go and who was supposed to wait. It came down to whoever went first won the contest. What made it more interesting was when a car from both directions decided to go at the same time. A policeman was there watching the confusion, but he never actually did anything to help people understand what was happening. He just stood by his car, lights flashing and watched. I could do that job and I wouldn’t need a fancy uniform or a gun. I could go by the police station in the morning, get a car, go to the site, turn on the flashing lights and then stand around. If anyone needs me for that, let me know.

This week our fact tells us that the armadillo can be housebroken. What I would like to know is why anyone wanted to know if it could. Of course this opens up a whole new line of items to sell. We can have bumper stickers that say “I (heart) my armadillo” or “My armadillo is smarter than your honor student” and other clever things. You could buy an armadillo stick figure to go with your stick family on the back window of your car. The possibilities are endless. Another important issue is does an armadillo use a litter box or does it have to be walked?